German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 6635.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was a writer, poet and aesthete of Irish descent who lived in England for much of his life. A gifted poet, playwright, and wit, Wilde was a phenomenon in 19th-century England. He was illustrious for preaching the importance of style in life and art, and for attacking Victorian narrow-mindedness. He was noted for 'The Happy Prince and Other Tales' (1888), his only novel, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' (1890), and especially his stage plays, such as 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 'Salome', 'A Woman of No Importance', 'An Ideal Husband', and 'Lady Windermere's Fan', of which have mee made countless film adaptations. Because of his homosexuality, Wilde was arrested for 'gross indecency', tried, and sentenced to two years of hard labour. Upon his release, he was penniless, and he was, as a result, reduced to living off of the generosity of friends, and of his wife, from whom he lived in a socially dictated separation. He died three years after his release in a hotel room in Paris.
German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 9026.
German playwright and novelist Hermann Sudermann (1857-1928) is now best known for his stage plays but at the time he had more success with such novels as 'Frau Sorge' and 'Geschwister'. In 1890 his novel 'Katzensteg' attracted attention for its sympathetic portrayals of the poor and downtrodden. His 1891 novel 'Sodoms Ende' was declared "immoral" and temporarily banned by court order. His next work, however, is undoubtedly his most famous: the play 'Heimat', a major hit on stage and a favourite of such stage luminaries as Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse and Mrs Patrick Campbell, while also adapted to film. His novel Das Hohelied was adapted to film several times, with the 1933 film Song of Songs with Marlene Dietrich as the best-known version, while his short story 'Die Reise nach Tilsit' inspired F.W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927) and Veit Harlan's Die Reise nach Tilsit (1939).
German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 6371.
Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson (1832-1910) was a Norwegian poet, social commentator, editor, public speaker and theatre personality. His production was very extensive, with peasant stories, plays, poetry, novels, articles, speeches and an enormous number of letters. As a poet and social actor, Bjørnson acted in both a national and Nordic spirit. In 1903 he became the first Norwegian Nobel Prize laureate. His novel 'Synnøve Solbakken' (1857) was filmed three times in Norway and Sweden; in 1919 by John Brunius, in 1934 by Tancred Ibsen, and in 1957 by Gunnar Hellström.
German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 9025.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Anglo-Irish playwright. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. Among other things, he wrote the play 'Pygmalion', later adapted into the musical 'My Fair Lady.' Pygmalion was also often adapted to film. Shaw is the only writer to date to have received both the Nobel Prize and the Oscar, the latter for his work on the screenplay for the film version of 'Pygmalion'. Shaw was an ardent socialist, unlike his lifelong close friend the writer G.K. Chesterton, who had a conservative outlook but criticised both capitalism and socialism, and who became a Catholic in adulthood.
German postcard, no. 8639.
German author and actor Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) wrote plays and poems, and he also performed his poems as a revue actor. His plays 'Der Erdgeist' and 'Die Büchse der Pandora' were the basis for Alban Berg's famous opera 'Lulu'. and G.W. Pabst's classic film Die Büchse der Pandora/Pandora's Box (1929) starring Louis Brooks. Another famous work by Wedekind is the 1891 drama 'Frühlings Erwachen' (Spring Awakening).
German postcard by Hermann Leiser Verlag, Berlin-Wilm., no. 7485. Photo: Hanns Holdt, München (Munich).
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was an Indian (Hindu) philosopher, nationalist and writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Tagore wrote the lyrics and melody for India's national anthem 'Jana-Gana-Mana' and Bangladesh's national anthem 'Amar Sonar Bangla'. He also wrote stage plays. Tagore wrote in both Bengali and English.
German postcard by Hermann Leiser, Bertlin-Wilm., no 3107.
Albanian-Austrian Alexander Moissi (1879-1935), born Aleksandër Moisiu, was one of the great European stage actors of the early 20th century. The attractive and charismatic women's idol also appeared in several silent and early sound films.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 3109. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no.2450. Photo: Fritz Richard. Alexander Moissi as Nikita in 'Die Macht der Finsternis'.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6947/2, 1931-1932. Photo: Fox.
Good-looking American actor Charles Farrell (1900-1990) was a Hollywood matinée idol of the Jazz Age and Depression era. He seems now forgotten, but between 1927 and 1934, he was very popular thanks to his teaming with Janet Gaynor in 12 screen romances, including 7th Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), and Lucky Star (1929). He retired from films in the early 1940s, but TV audiences of the 1950s would see him as Gale Storm's widower dad in the popular television series My Little Margie (1952-1955).
Dutch postcard. Photo: Metropole Film. Frits van Dongen, Hansje Andriesen and Jopie Koopmans in De Big van het Regiment/The Darling of the Regiment (Max Nosseck, 1935).
Handsome, deep-voiced leading man Frits van Dongen (1901-1975) was the first Dutch Hollywood star. He started his film career in the Netherlands, and in the mid-1930s he became a matinee idol in the German cinema. From 1940 on, he worked in Hollywood, billed as Philip Dorn. A tragic accident caused him to retire in 1955.
Jopie Koopman (1910-1979) was one of the stars of the Dutch cinema of the 1930s. The pretty cabaret artist sang and played in several revues and early sound films.
Dutch postcard. Photo: Merkelbach.
Jan C. de Vos sr. (1855-1931) was a Dutch actor, director, writer and founder and director of several theatre companies. He was the son of a Hague headmaster and initially studied Dutch literature. He attended drama school in 1876 and made his debut with the Nederlandsch Tooneel in the same year. In 1890, with Willem van Korlaar Sr., he founded the Rotterdam Tivoli theatre company, of which he remained director for five years. During that period he also taught at the theatre school (1892-1915). He played less frequently in the period 1885-1887 when he founded the ‘Weekblad de Lantaarn’ and was editor-in-chief of the Haagsche Courant. He was married to Mina Valois and Guusje Poolman (son: Jan C. de Vos Jr.). De Vos also translated and wrote several plays, namely 'Na dertig jaren' (After Thirty Years), 'Suzanne' and with M.B. Mendes da Costa 'De schuld' (The Debt). He also appeared in Dutch silent films, such as De vrouw Clasina/The Woman Clasina (Maurits Binger, 1915) and Voorbeschikten/Forecasts (Tonny Stevens, 1920). Until 1921, when he had to take leave due to illness, he worked as an actor, director and stage manager with various companies.
All photos: Collection Geoffrey Donaldson Institute. Check out our other posts on The Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
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